Lionhead Studios Ltd.

Lionhead Studios Ltd. is a company that makes video games

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Lionhead Studios is a British developer studio founded by industry legend Peter Molyneux. They focus on innovation in God, management and RPG games. Their first title was released in 2001, called Black & White. The company was created out of people from Bullfrog Productions.

Overview

The Lionhead building.

Lionhead Studios was founded by designer legend Peter Molyneux as well as Mark Webley ( who then left to set up Media Molecule ), Tim Rance and Steve Jackson (of Games Workshop fame) in 1997 after leaving Bullfrog Productions to pursue their dreams of innovation in video games. It was clearly set up to resemble the old school Bullfrog days that were long gone. The company is based in Guildford, Surrey, UK but was for a long time a "satellite" based studio branching out to Big Blue Box and other smaller studios for development. But in 2004 the smaller studios were integrated into the main foundation of Lionhead and they are now working as a collective group. Towards the end of that same year Lionhead ran into alot of financial trouble. They were, up until that point, a privately owned company but after overstepping their budget on several projects (Black & White 2, The Movies and more) a couple of investors ( Ingenious Ventures, IDG VE ) made big investments in the studio. The two overdeveloped games have not reached great sales even to this day and at

Lionhead entrance.

the time of their release it looked pretty dark for Lionhead as an independent studio.
In 2006 the company was acquired by Microsoft and Lionheads independence was ended. The studio now develops for Xbox 360 with their big holiday 2008 title Fable 2 as their first game.

Lionhead and Artificial Intelligence

Reception area with trophies.

The company takes pride in coming up with cutting edge A.I solutions and in 2001, the studio won several awards for "Best A.I in any computer game" with Black & White and it has been nominated for Guinness Book of Records for best AI in any game. The company is constantly evolving their AI and according to people working with the A.I their goal is to achieve "Social intelligence, real conversations and versatile characters you can truly believe in." With Fable II They hope to create a believable world where the people that inhabits it reacts to what happens around them in ways never seen before. The player should also be able to interact with the AI and make people change their minds about what is happening.

Design visions

Black & White (2001)

The first game to come out of the studio in 2001 was the insanely hyped up god simulator Black & White that took the basic "god" concept that Peter had invented and made a really big project out of it. The game was ultimately the victim of alot of delays but it was very well recieved by the press in the end. It was a strong start for the company and a milestone showing what has since become a big deal in Lionhead games, namely the power to shape the world based on your actions, the way you can morph yourself and the world based on whether your good or evil and the feeling of being a very powerful being that can do whatever you like and face the consequences of your actions.

The lounge and demo room. Typical English afternoon outside.

Except the offshoot into Hollywood with The Movies, this has been the guidelines for games developed in the studio so far. This,

combined with their will to constantly invent new mechanics that has never been seen in games before or creating interface polish that makes playing a game much smoother, makes Lionhead Studios a developer house unlike any other. And even if the results are not always huge mainstream successes they continue to push onwards with the vision that Peter set out when he founded the company. According to Peter himself this is the vision that the company will take to its grave.
When asked about where he gets his inspiration and how he wants to create games, Peter Molyenux answers:

"Doing Black & White made me realize something. I don’t think there’s one perfect game in me, and that everything I do is striving to create it. I think there are a lot of different, games which are as good as Lionhead and I can make them. None are perfect because in this world you can’t write a perfect game. Many of the similarities in these games are like those you’ll see in work by one film maker or hear in the work of one recording artist. If we find lovely ideas, like mana, we’ll use them whenever we need to. We won’t shoehorn them in because people expect them. The old adage is true. Games, like everything creative, is one per cent inspiration and ninety-nine per cent perspiration."

Design Diaries

Inside Lionhead

The company has released video diaries from the production of Fable II, called "Inside Lionhead" which can be found here.

There is also a page dedicated to Webcams set up around the office. They can be found here.

Fun Facts

12 percent of the Lionhead employees are left handed.
12 percent of Lionhead Studios have goatees.
28.5 percent wears glasses.
17 percent have shaved heads
10 percent of the guys have shoulder length (or longer) hair.
The company is named after a dead hamster

Lionhead Studios Ltd. Recently Published Games

We don't have any info about Lionhead Studios Ltd.'s games. Help us fill it in!

		Name	Platforms	Developer

Lionhead Studios Ltd. Recently Developed Games

Name	Platforms	Publisher
Fable II released on Oct. 21, 2008	X360	Microsoft Game Studios
Fable II Pub Games released on Aug. 13, 2008	XBLM	Microsoft Game Studios
The Movies: Stunts & Effects	PC	Activision
Black & White 2: Battle of the Gods	PC	Electronic Arts
The Movies released on Nov. 8, 2005	MAC, PC	Activision, ak tronic Software & Services GmbH
Fable: The Lost Chapters released on Oct. 20, 2005	MAC, XBOX, PC	Microsoft Game Studios, Feral Interactive
Black & White 2 released on Oct. 7, 2005	PC	Electronic Arts
Fable released on Sept. 14, 2004	XBOX, XBLM	Microsoft Game Studios, Feral Interactive
Black & White Deluxe	PC	Electronic Arts
Black & White: Creature Isle	PC	Electronic Arts

Images

General Information Edit

Company Name	Lionhead Studios Ltd.
Street Address	1 Occam Court
City	Guildford
State	Surrey
Country	England
Website	www.lionhead.com
Contact Email	webmaster@lionhead.com
Phone Number	44 (0) 1483 401000
Date Founded	1997-01-01 00:00:00
Count of Games Published	0
Count of Games Developed	13
Aliases

Recurring Appearances

chars
locations
concepts
things

	The Good Consciences first in Black & White	5
	The Evil Consciences first in Black & White	5
	The Hero first in Fable	3
	Hobbe first in Fable	3
	Theresa first in Fable	3
	Whisper first in Fable	3
	Jack of Blades first in Fable	3
	Guildmaster first in Fable	2
	Maze first in Fable	2
	Hammer first in Fable II	1

	Tavern first in	6
	Castle first in	5
	Albion first in Fable	4
	Hook Coast first in	3
	Oakvale first in Fable	3
	Hero's Guild first in Fable	3
	Bowerstone first in Fable	3
	Bowerstone South first in Fable	3
	Cemetery first in	3
	Cave first in	3

	Alignment first in	8
	Moral Decisions first in	8
	God Complex first in	6
	Artificial Intelligence first in Pong: The Next Level	6
	Day/Night Cycle first in Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny	5
	Weather first in	5
	Magic first in	5
	Currency first in Pool of Radiance	5
	Anthropomorphism first in	4
	Good Vs. Evil first in	4

	Fireball first in Super Mario Bros.	8
	Alcoholic Beverages first in	5
	Potion first in Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord	4
	Ring first in	4
	Tree first in	4
	Gold first in The Seven Cities of Gold	4
	Bow and Arrow first in	3
	Stone first in	3
	Sword first in	3
	Crate first in	3